BAGHDAD — A deadly gun battle broke out between rival Sunni insurgent factions near the northern city of Samarra, in fresh violence that highlighted the division among these organizations and the complicated nature of the fighting in Iraq.
The violence began Friday night outside Samarra, north of Baghdad, between members of the Islamic Army and al-Qaeda in Iraq, two Sunni insurgent groups that have become enemies. Many members of the Islamic Army have rejected al-Qaeda in Iraq’s methods and aligned themselves with American soldiers, according to Iraqi police and insurgents.
Islamic Army fighters killed 18 suspected members of al-Qaeda in Iraq and captured 14 others, said a leader of the Islamic Army known as Abu Ibrahim. He said the clashes erupted again Saturday afternoon, and two more al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders were killed.
A U.S. military spokesman in northern Iraq said he had no information about fighting there.
On Saturday, members of “volunteer” forces in Diyala province, working with U.S. and Iraqi troops, helped arrest as many as five leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq, said Hussain al-Zubaidi, an official with the Diyala Provincial Council.
On Friday, a U.S. soldier was killed and three others wounded when a bomb exploded near them in Diyala province, the U.S. military said.
As of Saturday, at least 3,861 members of the U.S. military have died since the start of the war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
